


there's a baby goat?

by alldamianwayne



Category: DCU (Comics)
Genre: Batfamily Meets Justice League, Bruce Wayne-centric, Christmas Cookies, Christmas Eve, Christmas Fluff, Fluff, Justice League (DCU) as Family, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-24
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-10 23:07:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,922
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28275078
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alldamianwayne/pseuds/alldamianwayne
Summary: their first Christmas together truly as a family and Bruce Wayne is only mildly worried about messing everything up
Relationships: Bruce Wayne/Slade Wilson
Comments: 4
Kudos: 76





	1. Christmas Eve

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the Justice League habe a meeting in Wayne Manor but the kids keep disrupting them, it takes one person saying what they were all thinking to get Bruce into the holiday spirit

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this was meant to be a short one off just for Christmas but then I made polls on Twitter and it formed into a two part Christmas Eve / Christmas Day fic to be released on the respective days, I don't really tag it but the Justice League have a fairly big part in the beginning of the fic but it gets more batfamily centric towards the end and in the second chapter

Unsurprisingly Barry Allen was the first to make his appearance, almost barrelling poor Alfred over as he made his entrance through the front doors of Wayne Manor. Before Bruce could even snap at him to not think about it, there was a Christmas hat perched on top of his head with a fluffy ball dangling right in front of his eyes. It was Christmas Eve, but the Justice League desperately needed to have a meeting that couldn’t wait for the cheer to die down.

Agreeing on meeting at Bruce’s after being promised a large breakfast cooked by Alfred, they had set the time for early morning so they could leave with enough time to spend the rest of the day however they pleased. Clark Kent arrived next with an apology on his lips about being late despite being there well before the agreed upon time, explaining that he had been reading to Jon and hadn’t noticed the time ticking closer to their meeting.

Snow curling around the house, blanketing them in a chilled but comfortable temperature inside of the Manor. Bruce had tried to convince Alfred to leave his post at the front door to come further inside, yet ever the dutiful butler he promised to stand charge until every member walked safely and welcomed through their doors. He had even received a Christmas hat upon Barry’s entrance and, like Bruce, hadn’t moved to take it off of his head just yet.

“Master Bruce, I take it the children still aren’t up?”

“Nobody has ransacked your extravagant breakfast, if that’s what you are worried about.”

“Yet Master Bruce, nobody has done it yet.”

Coming in from outer space after their last big missions finished, both Kyle Rayner and Hal Jordan made their entrances looking worn out but unwaveringly polite to Alfred. Hal’s energy seemed to come back upon seeing Bruce and having a reinvigorated need to get on Bruce’s nerves as quickly as possible. Kyle walked over to the stairs where Barry was standing and animatedly talking to Clark, he probably meant to casually lean against the railing but ended up sitting down with exhaustion.

Then in walked Dinah Lance and Diana Prince who had snow caught in their hair and clinging to their boots, the two of them being the only ones who walked through the snow up to the manor’s front doors. Handing off their coats to Bruce and giving him a kiss on the cheek, they looked absolutely stunning in slick back and wine-red dresses respectively. Bruce had bought if for them as a thank you for attending a mind numbingly boring gala event with him a few months back.

Wearing one of the ugliest Christmas jumpers ever, Clark was excitedly showing it off to everyone who walked into the manor. Bruce had bought it for him years ago as a joke, but he should have known with how annoyingly sweet Clark is that he would religiously wear it every Christmas since. There was relaxing chatter happening amongst everyone behind them as their numbers increase, save for Kyle who was basically asleep on the staircase.

Moving over to have a quiet word with Bruce, Dinah whispered that Ollie was going to be late because Roy had phoned him. Holidays get a little rough for Roy so Bruce could not begrudge Ollie for prioritizing his old sidekick’s health over getting to the meeting on time, and as he reassured her it was alright Mari McCabe walked in. She looked just as gorgeous in a simple white shirt tucked into strikingly yellow pants, a jacket placed over her shoulders to match.

Gold around her neck stood out and sparkled delicately in the light cascading down in the entryway, Bruce greeted her fondly as they had not seen each other for some time. He had long since foregone the need to pretend that his team mates weren’t important to him, family in a separate way to the batfamily but a family, nonetheless. Even though he didn’t always see eye to eye with Arthur Curry he still gave him a firm handshake upon his entry.

Seasoned in the act of performing as the family butler, Alfred went to move on to show them further into the house where they could eat and discuss important matters uninterrupted. However, it seemed that while they were distracted with guests, they failed to notice the house rising for the morning, new noises bouncing off of the walls. It hit Bruce first who stopped and turned to face the stairs, feeling a foreboding sense of mayhem about to unfold.

Before he could say anything, Damian was falling from the top of the stairs down to the bottom, each of the superheros twitched with the danger of the situation and wondering if they were meant to rush over to help. They didn’t even need to consider it as Damian flipped himself and landed gracefully, sword held up in a protective manoeuvre as Jason rained down bullets from the top of the stairs. Jason hadn’t been using live ammunition thankfully especially not inside the house.

“You know that last cookie was meant to be mine.”

“I know no such thing Todd, no one has claim over what is clearly mine.”

While he could have ran back up the stairs towards Jason, Damian decided to be dramatic and nimbly run up the railing of the stairs while flipping over bullets being fired rapidly at him. There had been a stunned silence since the boys had appeared and only when they left their sight did the heroes let out a collective breath. Choosing to move past it, Alfred led the way at a brisk speed which had only been momentarily halted, thinking about how he would have to clean up after them.

Food quickly distracting everyone who hadn’t wanted to comment on the family behaviours of the batfamily, discussion starting once they were all settled in. Kyle was listening but had his head on Hal’s shoulder, looking ahead but only registering the essential information which sadly for him was most of it. Oliver Queen making his entrance not too far into the beginnings of the meeting and with one look from Bruce, nobody questioned it.

Only about halfway through the meeting where they met with more children interrupting them, Cass came into his vision and raised her hands to sign can I go to the bakery? While Steph all but bounced with excitement behind her, they had been staying in the manor leading to Christmas and although they didn’t have to ask, the batkids always habitually asked to leave. Signing back that they could go as long as they got the boys something, they left with wide smiles.

After that majority of the interruptions happened in quick succession. Ten Minutes after he heard the door shut and the girls leave, Dick walked in throwing the doors open with a dramatically wide smile on his face. Picking up food from the centre of the table as he moved towards Bruce, hugging him behind from over the back of the chair and looking down at the data pad in Bruce’s hands. Pouting as he asked where his greeting party was, he had arrived with only Alfred at the door.

Shrugging him off as Dick made grabby hands at the data pad, hands hanging over Bruce’s chest to see what they are all doing. Twirling his way out with as much dramatics and twice as much food in his hands, Dick left them all to continue discussing what they had been talking about prior to his entrance. Shaking off the disruption and once again feeling the Justice League wanting to ask questions but not wanting to overstep any boundaries.

“Do you know the Netflix password?”

Even Duke had made his entrance, only partially opening the door to the room, and peaking his head in to make anxious eye contact with Bruce. He had clearly been sent because any of the other kids would have been turned around. Apparently, Tim had logged everyone out of everything to get back at them for something but had forgotten the password, so he was currently hiding while Duke figured out how to fix the situation.

Hearing his phone receive and accept a call without touching it before the speaker turns itself on, Bruce resigned himself to the interruption despite how close they are to the end of their meeting. A quick apology to everyone before lifting the phone up, seeing Barbara’s face projected onto the screen with a swarm of motion behind her. She seemed to be in the kitchen with flour streaked across her cheeks and a Christmas apron around her.

“Yes?”

“The boys want to know of they are allowed to use the kitchen.”

“Well what did Alfred say?”

“Before he left to get groceries he said, and I quote ‘do not use the kitchen or else’ but the boys agreed that you are cooler than Alfred so you would definitely let them use it.”

Raising his hand to his face and letting out a resigned sigh, by the looks of it they had all already started cooking and were just using Bruce as the blame when they got caught by Alfred. Even so, seeing through it so clearly, Bruce couldn’t help but say yes and feel the warmth rise in him as the boys all cheer behind Barbara but off screen. Damian runs up and pulls the phone down to his height, thanking his father before running off again.

“Bruce sweetheart, I think your kids want to spend some time with you.”

It was Diana, of course it was Diana, who finally spoke the words that everyone had been thinking since the first appearance of a few batkids. They were running around causing mischief and they had no doubt this was a regular occurrence, but every situation had led them to Bruce, if Bruce wasn’t going to use his smart brain to figure that out then Diana would have to do it for him. All of the vital information had been covered already too.

Something about Bruce seemed hesitant to indulge in his family’s whims, there was a softer essence to him sitting at the head of the table. Watching his kids run around and bother each other but inevitably come together to create something truly messy no doubt in the kitchen, it seemed so fragile to Bruce and he didn’t want to shatter it with his presence. Not since Damian arrived had they truly spent a Christmas as one big family and this was their chance.

Cleaning up the table and the information they had spread around on the table amongst the snacks, they all convinced Bruce to bring the dirty dishes to the kitchen while Alfred was out and unable to clean up after them. Walking into the kitchen allowed them to be quickly and suddenly met with the amount of chaos a large number of siblings could bring about in such a short amount of time. Even Steph and Cass were back with Helena not far behind.

There were bowls of icing in Christmas’s colours except slightly off in their shading, chocolate drops were scattered all over one edge of the kitchen counter and had dropped all over the floor for Alfred the cat to consider eating. Damian was running over with a dustpan to clean up the chocolate drops while Jason went to grab cookies out the oven, with his barehand before realizing as the pain set in and quickly retreating to the sink.

Across from that Tim was trying to hold up a large Christmas pudding which was not holding its shape, Steph trying to decorate the top of it but was laughing too hard to keep a steady hand. Cass was shaking her head as she tries to make her way through the piles of dishes everyone was leaving behind and not cleaning up. Helena smirking at the chaos but choosing to help Cass by drying the dishes, having to fluidly move around the chaos to put things away.

Dick was sat on top of the counter staring down at Barbara in her chair, he was decorating little treats to look like the reindeer but was more focused on eating the decorations as he picked them up than putting them down. Although Barbara shook her head in disappointment, she accepted the ones that Dick handed to her as she flipped through the family’s playlists, deciding on what music to play to get them in the Christmas spirit.

“Father! Look what I made!”

In his hands which were smudged with chocolate and edible glitter was a tiny cookie, cut out by hand and decorated by Damian to look like a tiny Batman. There was a whole tray of cookies that were clearly made by Damian because they were the neatest, Damian went through and explained all the toppings he had added knowing his father’s sweet tooth was like his own. While he was distracted the Justice League said their quick but quiet good byes and take their leave.

Thanking Alfred for the hospitality as they passed him and asking him to let Bruce know that they hope he has a good Christmas, and that he should let himself relax every now and again. Alfred seemed to mirror the sentiment if the look he gave them was anything to go by, going off in the direction of the kitchen with a bag on either arm. Once the heroes had all left the house was filled with too loud Christmas music, making it hard to hear.

Alfred rolling his eyes at the mess of a scene before him but just utterly glad that Bruce was in the middle of it for once, rolling out some dough alongside Damian while Jason mixed their next bowl of dough by hand. Dick had moved on to decorating Rice Krispy treats shaped like Christmas trees and drizzled in a waterier than expected icing mixture, Barbara putting on the finer details like tinsel and lights with more icing.

“Well now I expect you all to pitch in and clean this mess up.”

Only directed to the messier members of the family as Cass and Helena had already done their part to maintain a sense of cleanliness, now pitching in to make cake pop Santa’s. When everything was made and the whole entirety of the mess painstakingly cleaned up after themselves, the sat around the fire staring up expectedly at Bruce. Bruce who was holding a child’s Christmas book in his hands, Duke had picked it out and they wanted it read to them.

Tim fell asleep within the first few minutes and was followed quickly by Steph, the two of them collapsed on each other over the floor at the feet of Cass’ chair. She was dozing off but still aware enough to listen as the next story was picked by Barbara, one her father had read to her years ago when she was younger. One by one the lot of them began either falling asleep of conceding to their tiredness and heading upstairs, saying goodnight before collapsing.

Even though Damian hadn’t been asleep Bruce had still carried him to bed, everyone else was tucked in and Bruce had gone to leave before he felt his sons hand clutch his shirt. Looking back down he saw that in his other hand he was holding a small box. Sitting down on the edge of the bed and receiving the gift, opening it up to see a tie pin that Damian explained he had created with his knowledge of metal work.

It wasn’t just a shining tie pin, but he had combined it with a pearl from his grandmothers’ necklace, the one that had bled into the sewers and Damian had more than once gone down there to search through the waters for what pearls he could find. There were a pair of cuff links in that were created in a similar fashion, his mothers pearl gleaming at him and well taken care of. It was beautiful and incredibly thoughtful, and Damian had been too shy to show it in front of the others.

“Thank you, Damian, I cannot begin to express how much this means to me coming from you.”

“No need father.”

“I love you and I hope that you remember that, this is something I will treasure and keep with me.”

“Of course, and I love you.”

Watching his son’s eyes close and finally succumb to exhaustion which had been gripping at him, Bruce left his sons room and made his way towards his own bedroom. He hadn’t even spared a thought to the paperwork and casework he had down in the cave, allowing himself this one short break as he said his goodnights to Alfred. Slipping underneath the covers of his own bed and letting sleep pull him under, dreaming about pretty pearls and his happy family.

For the first night in a long time Bruce managed to fall asleep without worrying about the endless list of troubles he usually runs through before finally falling asleep, exhausted. Warmth of his blankets curled around him and the windows shut tight to keep out the snow, falling onto the ground to be shovelled the next morning. He was so comfortable and content laying there under the covers, sleep clinging to his brain that he didn’t hear the window open.

Didn’t know the familiar presence enter his bedroom until weight was being lowered onto the bed behind him, the scent surrounding him being the only thing that has him staying still instead of shooting up in preparation for a fight. The warmth radiating from the body behind him made Bruce turn around and snuggle closer, eyes still yet to actually open as he almost feels himself slipping back into unconsciousness and falling asleep.

There was a rumbling laughter reverberating around Slade’s chest, Slade moving his hand up to Bruce’s hair to bring him closer to Slade’s chest so he could feel every intake of breath and ever beat of his heart. He had soundlessly stripped before getting onto the bed and Bruce’s brain would have done something with that information if he didn’t feel so sleepy, eyes finally opening to take in the man lying next to.

“Well aren’t you cute.”

“Shut up Slade.”

It was mumbled as Bruce tried to move further into Slade’s ample chest, appreciating it and also clinging to the warmth that Slade’s skin provides. Reluctantly Bruce slowly moves his head back to actually look up and he could see Slade taking in his movements, watching him rub his eyes tiredly and settle close but so they could still look at each other. The smile Slade wore went from viciously teasing to a softer smile that felt almost like a subconscious reaction.

“You better be decent when the kids come in, in a few hours.”

“I’ll just play the part of Father Christmas who came in to seduce their dad.”

“Do that and I’ll have Superman knock you out again.”

“Told you that in confidence, it was only one time and it barely counts.”

“Clark thought if was pretty satisfying.”

Slade was pouting as much as you could get a man like that to pout and he took the weight off of his arm and laid down on his back, Bruce crawling forward to lean across Slade’s chest. Watching the man stare up at the roof while Bruce stares at him, content to take in the pretty features highlighted by the moonlight filtering in through the now open window. A chill filling the room and acting as the perfect excuse to cuddle closer.

“I had Joey and Rose help me pick Christmas presents for the kids.”

“You didn’t have to do that.”

“Come on now sweetheart, I wasn’t going to show up empty handed and anyway, Damian wouldn’t let me stay if I didn’t bring something.”

“He does love you; he just likes to see how much he can get from you.”

With an annoying amount of ease, Slade drags him bodily up so that Bruce’s head was resting on his shoulder and he was curled over Slade. Unconsciously hitching his leg up over Slade’s hip and Slade using that as the perfect excuse to grab his ass, not being able to see the look Bruce gave him. Slowly as their conversation died down, he could feel himself falling into that sleepiness from before, the contrast of the cold hair with Slade’s warm body working to settle him.

“It’s a baby goat.”

“What?”

“The gift for Damian, it’s a baby goat.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [my Twitter ♡](https://twitter.com/alldamianwayne?s=09)


	2. Christmas Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Slade joins the family for an emotional and eventful Christmas Day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had to finish writing this on Christmas Day so it might read a little rushed and the ending doesnt make me super happy but I want to eat my breakfast finally so I consider it done!

There were very few times that Bruce had ever seen Damian this happy, so he tried to keep his glaring at Slade to a minimum so as to not bring down his sons’ good mood. He had the tiniest goat Bruce had ever seen seated in his lap, his small hands roaming over the animal’s body like he still couldn’t believe he was allowed another animal. Allowed wasn’t the right word truly because if Slade had asked Bruce would have said no, but he couldn’t take her back.

Everette, as had been explained when the animal first came into view, was a rescue animal who had been experimented on and would not grow any bigger than she is right now. Apparently, it was meant to be a consolation for Bruce that they wouldn’t have a full-sized goat running around the batcave, just a miniature goat who could jump onto almost anything she desired. It took Bruce all but five minutes to cave and smile at his son who had gone and re-entered the room with food for her.

With them all together this year Bruce hadn’t even thought of just getting the batkids money and had actually gone all out with gifts. Some of them couldn’t be placed under their towering and bright Christmas tree like the motorbike which is waiting out in the garage for Jason, but some like the gorgeous dangling necklace he had bought Barbara had earned him a tearful and tight hug. Dick had an extensive selection of skincare and selfcare products.

One of Tim’s gifts had already been set up in his apartment, a personalized PC set up which he had gotten to match the one Kon got from Clark. It was to encourage some downtime with the teenagers who spent substantial portions of their time stressed out and focusing on things instead of slowing down and taking time to just be young. Cass got a series of intricately designed ballet outfits and classes with a professional in Russia who she could be mentored and encouraged by.

Snow was still falling around the manor when Alfred had looked outside and ordered the able-bodied young people to start shovelling the snow away from the paths. Damian being the exception because he didn’t want to leave poor little Everette inside the house alone just yet, he disappeared down into the cave while they went outside to introduce her to the others. Outside it took Jason all but thirty seconds to decide to pick up Tim and throw him into the snow.

Unsurprisingly, this triggered a snow fight which Alfred ended after one caught him in the face as he walked out the door to check up on them. Even Bruce and Slade got scolded light heartedly for the nonsense and they had to stop from laughing like school children, Slade pouring some snow down the back of Bruce’s shirt the second Alfred went back inside. It took them an unnecessarily long amount of time to get the task done given how easily distracted they all were, but they finally made it inside with freezing noses and flushed faces.

Wearing the sweater than Cass had knitted for her, Steph was setting up her knew phone that Bruce had purchased for her after he had found out her old one was about to die but she didn’t have the money for it right now with all the new bills she had to deal with having moved out with Tim. Its not that she didn’t have a lot of money saved but she felt silly forking out so much for a phone when it hadn’t died yet, and Bruce wanted to treat her, and Christmas is an excuse to do so.

Alfred walked in carrying a tray of cookies that he had managed to salvage from yesterday to save for today, placing them down on the table between them as Jason trails in behind him carrying trays of hot chocolate. His own notorious design that settled something inside of Bruce and Damian as their sweet tooths were satisfied. Even Slade who has a fair amount of distaste for sweet treats and anything sugary, drank his drink without complaint.

“Thank you, Bruce, I really appreciate you doing this for me.”

She was holding the pair of tickets in her hand that Bruce had given her earlier, looking down at them in shock and awe still. One of the tickets was for her and the other was for Dinah, they had both wanted to get away on a trip together and Bruce let himself cover all their expenses. It was going to be a long trip and she was worried about leaving Gotham for it, making Dinah come with her too but she was assured their routes would be covered. 

The biggest stack of presents belonged to Damian who was modestly going through the, Bruce had gone all out not in order to buy his affection but to show he has been listening when Damian shows an interest in something. Stacks of historical books made his eyes light up and collections of old anime sets that he will make Jason watch with him on nights they aren’t out on patrol. Old swords in decent condition that Bruce had worked hard to track down for him.

Pleasantly decorated knives that were more for show than practical, although he knows his son could work with any kind of tool blunt or not if he needed to. Presents both opened and unopened were laying around, the older kids were opening some and swapping some of their own, but Bruce couldn’t help his attention constantly coming back to the massive stack of presents that Slade had some how silently hauled in when he arrived.

Lying neatly in piles after Damian had thoroughly and gratefully thanked Slade, and allowed him to stay the day for Christmas, was all of the gifts Damian had received from Slade. Custom covers for all his gaming controllers with little paw print covers for the joy sticks. A mini fridge that Bruce reluctantly permitted to go in Damian’s room that’s brown with a little bear head on top, already stocked full of treats Slade had bought on the way up yesterday.

A pair of glasses that are shaped like little cat legs which he had poured milk into and let Alfred the cat try out, next to it is another pair of glasses with cat paw indents in the middle which gets clearly highlighted when filled with liquid. Of course, there was the goat roaming around never too far from Damian’s sight, both out of love and worry for all the presents scattered around. With each gift uncovered Slade explained which one of his kids, Rose or Joey, had picked it.

Vouchers for Damian to get his nails done like he had been begging for months now, he sat next to Slade going through images for inspiration on what he would get and settled on a pair of sharp pointed nails with a shining green and black aesthetic. All of the outfits that Slade had bought for Damian were absolutely breathtaking and Bruce was undeniably impressed, felt himself getting a little emotional watching his sun light up at the sight of them.

Wrap around green shoes and a wrap around green shirt folded gently to one side, a black shoulder cape with a fitted collar had been one of the more dramatic clothing purchases. Beige cape with a wrap around chest that hung low at the back almost touching the floor with Damian’s height, he was ecstatic as he considered trying them all on. He decided, however, to keep his Christmas pyjamas on instead because they matched everyone else in the family.

Bruce had appreciated every gift his son was given, although Slade did also bring bountiful gifts for the other kids, he was clearly showing how familiar he was with Damian’s interests and how, like Bruce, he was paying attention. It was nice to see his son showered in love and attention, giving an appreciative kiss to Slade while the kids attention was all focused on anything else but them. Slade snaked his hand down to Bruce’s ass and got hit in the chest for his efforts.

“Mother wanted me to give this to you.”

Like every years Talia had sent Bruce two gifts, one of them was a shining stone to go along the others he had collected in a small box in a draw besides his bed. He doesn’t open them at any time during the year, but he knows the box is there, opening it up on one singular day and that is Christmas day when he puts in another one. The other part of the gift is a decently sized vial that Bruce knows what to do with by now and silently appreciates.

At first, he had been hesitant about the rekindling of her relationship with Damian, but he had them supervised and everything was looking positive, so for the first time he took the gifts from his son. It was a vial of liquid from the Lazarus Pit. She provided it to him every year so his body could heal a little, his mind getting clearer and the scars beginning to lose their bone deep ache that had accumulated over the passing year.

Initially it was probably some scheme to keep him young and spry so that he could be an asset to the League of Assassins but now, now he knows that Talia wants to keep them both of them in Damian’s life as long as possible. Thanking Damian for delivering them, for the first time Bruce swears that he will go and see Talia in person to thank her. Mind straying to darker topics, past moments that cling to him when his mind starts wondering, only to be pulled back by Slade’s warm hands.

“I would ask you to open my gift for you sweetheart, but I don’t think your kids would appreciate it.”

Slade laughed as he moved himself out of the way when Bruce’s hand came up to hit him, he was flushed red and his desire to hurt Slade had been reignited from earlier. Turning around he noticed that everyone had stopped chatting amongst themselves and were staring at the two of them, it was times like that were Bruce’s worry would go sky high. He hadn’t wanted to ruin Christmas, their first family Christmas together.

Worrying about ruining the day with his presence was bad enough but Slade had come and no matter how many presents he brought with him, Bruce was worried about how his presence had made his family feel all morning. Instead of disgust or anger at their display they all started smiling, ranging from delighted smiles at Bruce relaxing in someone’s presence to the grins that meant someone had taken photos of a blushing Bruce Wayne as blackmail material.

The kids had gotten Bruce a number of gifts from perfume to movies for him to watch with them, new expensive ties to go with the tie pin Damian had created. A phone case because Bruce was surprisingly bad at keeping his phone uncracked with his distracted, he can get. Each gift meant a lot to him as he had opened more and more, Steph had draped herself over the back of the chair he had been sat in, explaining the puzzle she had bought him which she hadn’t been able to figure out herself.

“One more gift for you, Master Bruce.”

Presents had died down a little while ago, but Bruce turned to see Alfred walking in with Dick and Damian carrying something decently sized. He had to sit himself back down and lay it across his lap, delicately opening the wrapping paper in an infuriatingly precise manner that drives everyone crazy but this time it was necessary not to ruin what is underneath. Turning it over once the wrapping paper fell away, Bruce couldn’t stop himself from crying that time.

Slade had left the room to bring all the dirty dishes into the kitchen and let the family have their moment. It was a portrait of the entire family together, the children with himself and Alfred all together for the first time in one picture. Damian had painstakingly painted it for him in secret which was a true testament to his skills because Bruce hadn’t noticed, he had seen the paints scattered around sometimes but always just told Damian he should paint more.

“Merry Christmas dad!”

They all said it together and Bruce had Tim take the painting from him so he could pull Damian onto his lap, hugging him tight enough that it was probably painful, but Damian just sunk into it. Wrapping his arms around Bruce and telling his father that he doesn’t need to cry, they will always be here with him no matter what. As he pulled back from Damian all the other kids piled on for the hug, Damian whining out a breath at how they were all heavy and crushing him.

While Damian was in a good docile mood, the boys stole him away and Slade came back into the room carrying a black coffee that had just about as much sweetness as he needed. Sitting on the air of the chair while the boys brought Damian back down, dressed in a Christmas costume that was being immortalized in photographs. Little white antlers with fluffy brown eyes on a headband on top of his head, a brown dress with white dots and an apron of white fur.

Someone (most likely Dick) had convinced them to give him a red nose too so he could be Rudolph red nosed reindeer, adorably sized with a tiny pout on his face. Arms crossed over his chest as Barbara cooed at how cute he is, letting her grab his hand and turn him around so she could see the entire outfit and the fluffy tail on the back of the dress. He did whine about how embarrassing it was, but it took him all of about five minutes to get used to it.

Helena and Damian worked together when the kids all went outside, with him getting on her shoulders to battle against Cass who was on Dick’s shoulders. Once again looking to mess with Tim, Jason tripped them the second they were in reach of snow and watched him fall face first into it. Barbara was just outside the front door with Stephanie beside her, animatedly talking about the features on her new phone which Barbara promised to make even cooler for her later.

Almost like they had trained for this moment, Helena, and Damian both managed to take down Dick and Cass who landed in the snow, one more gracefully than the other but laughing, nonetheless. As the day got later and things inside began tidying up, Damian promised he would be back soon after swapping gifts with Jon and Tim managed to sneak off to see Kon. Both Helena and Barbara went off to go see Dinah while Steph and Cass went out to the park.

With everyone else going their separate ways Jason told Bruce that he would be going out to spend the rest of the night with Roy and Kory, they hadn’t had a moment off to spend with each other in some time and he desperately missed it. Dick also made his leave to see his boyfriend Wally who is currently babysitting Lian while Roy has a moment to catch up with Jason, Donna and Garth both being over as well like an impromptu Christmas party for themselves. 

Duke had come back from his own family morning about the time where the kids were messing around in the snow out the front and had surprised them with how brilliant his snowball throwing skills were, he came inside to receive his gifts from Bruce. He had apologized about not being there with them this morning, but Bruce had reassured him that everyone had places to be, Bruce just liked seeing Duke excited over the running shoes.

One of his other gifts being those monuments that you put together on stands and put on display, difficult to put together and when Bruce had tried one after being curious at Duke’s request for a few for Christmas, he had decided they were too hard and gave up. Frustratingly delicate but later Duke would send him photos of the completed sets and Bruce would be overwhelmingly proud and pleased with the patience Duke displays.

Even Duke left after a while and Bruce was left in the house with Slade, Alfred having gone out to see some old friends too after some convincing from Bruce. Getting out of his chair Bruce told Slade that he didn’t need to stick around for him and that it was surely time for him to go visit his own kids, and Slade agreed that it was close to when his family had planned to meet but he didn’t agree with the idea of leaving Bruce behind and alone.

“Sweetheart I planned on inviting you, just didn’t want to have you leave the kids.”

“I don’t want to intrude.”

As it left his mouth, he felt a slight flush raise on his cheeks in embarrassment which grew more heated the longer Slade stared at him like he was an idiot. The other man had spent the entire morning with them and hadn’t intruded at all, but it was bad enough that he had been worried about ruining his own families Christmas, he didn’t want to ruin the Wilson families either. This year was special for them too as the kids were bringing partners.

Terrence was coming to meet Adeline for the first time and Hosun was familiar with the family but hadn’t quite managed to fit himself in yet until now. Bruce ended up accepting the invitation and going up to get dressed, a simple black turtleneck sweater and some pants which Slade teased him for because he was clearly dressing up to impress. It did its job far sooner than Bruce had expected and Slade distracted them both up until the point where they were half an hour late.

Bruce had thankfully gotten Slade’s kids presents but he felt like it paled in comparison to what Slade had brought with him, seemingly knowing his train of thought Slade shut it down quickly. Slade had something to prove coming into the batfamily with his history, he explained, Bruce was already more than welcome because the kids almost idolized him. It made Bruce roll his eyes in disbelief, but Slade pressed on, how he was a goof influence of Joey and Rose.

“Grant would have liked you, probably, if he had stopped hating on me long enough to notice you.”

It was not something that was brought up a lot between them, but Bruce understood that this time of year often brought forward thoughts of loss, Bruce had spent some time of his own over Christmas thinking about the family he had lost. Feeling like a nervous school girl reaching across the car to hold Slade’s hand, he felt more content when Slade gripped his hand and rested it on his thigh, the moment sweet and light until Slade moved Bruce’s hand higher.

He didn’t appreciate Bruce hitting him no matter how much of his strength he held back, they had to pull over for a moment while Bruce laughed, and Slade cursed him out. Christmas had gone wonderfully so far, no matter how peculiar or dysfunctional their families can be on a good day, they were coming together to celebrate, and it made Bruce feel fuller than he had in years. His family always growing, he would even include the Wilson family in that thought.

“I’m not protecting you from Adeline now.”

“Maybe the two of us can just compare performances, see whose more disappointed.”

“I give it five minutes tops before the two of you are fighting over me.”

Although Bruce denied it the entire drive there it didn’t even take the two of them five minutes to start “subtly” trying to prove who was better for Slade, his ex-wife, or his current boyfriend. Slade had enjoyed it up until the point where Adeline shifted to start detailing her sex life with her current husband and left the room with Joey and Rose who had been looking for an exit, going over to open presents while Bruce defended his bed performance.

“Does Bruce make you happy?”

“He can be quite a fussy bitch.”

“Pops, come on I’m serious.”

“Where did this come from, joey?”

“I just want to make sure you know, you can be happy.”

“He makes me happy.”

“That’s all we can ask for then, that are more expensive gifts because I could get used to this.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [my Twitter ♡](https://twitter.com/alldamianwayne?s=09)


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